Kathryn Booth

Extraordinary Overload? Don’t crowd the mushrooms…

Don't Crowd the Mushrooms or They Won't Brown

I spent 2.5 hours listening to an online seminar last night – Session 1 of the League of Extraordinary Minds. It was promoted by Jay Abraham, Rich Schefren and Tony Robbins and promised to be packed with a lot of valuable information.

There were seven panelists: Jack Trout, Kevin Hogan, Russell Granger, Joseph Jaffe, Michael Bosworth, Bert Decker and Stephen MR Covey. Each panelist addressed various aspects of “Getting Customers to Choose YOU Over Everyone Else: Leveraging Credibility, Believability, and Trust in Everything You Do” This is a free seminar series and seemed like it would have a lot of good information, so I wrapped up most of what goes on at my house in an evening and settled in at 8 p.m. to give a listen. Sign Up for This Free Series Click Here

Earlier that evening I had decided to try something different for dinner and it led me back to a metaphor for life from Julia Child – “Don’t crowd the mushrooms or they won’t get brown.” Now I’m a pretty good cook and I like sauteed mushrooms, but I’m also a busy, single mom with 6 kids and a number of other things – so to be completely honest…this was the first time I really took the time to do right by mushrooms. I’ve had all the same elements before – and they were tasty…but doing what I’m going to describe to you took them to another level and ended up giving me some things to think about.

How does this relate to the League of Extraordinary Minds?

This seminar was pitched in advance that it would be full of outstanding, business building information…so much information that you would want to sign up for an mp3 recording, notes page and transcript…and then sign up for an ongoing coaching, mentoring service. Did it deliver? Oh yes!

But this is the biggest and most difficult shift in our current, global, information rich economy…you can get hours and hours and pages and pages of information from top consultants and experts – for free or for a comparatively low price. How to implement it all, when to implement it and choosing who to listen to gets to be an overwhelming, confusing, and poorly implemented series of decisions.

All the elements can be there…but the results aren’t going to be what they could be.

So lets break it down and see what Julia was talking about -

The Mushrooms - (these are all the things you are learning about and planning to implement – not your product or service)

You can use any fresh mushrooms, but even the white field mushrooms will be great – I used a very large package 16 oz. because I am having a mushroom omelette for breakfast and making the ultimate beef stew later on.

Slice the mushrooms as seen in picture – unless you are a good multitasker and know your stove, get all the slicing done first.

The Pan  - (this is the structure of your business – it needs to be sturdy)

Use a large, flat bottomed skillet on medium to medium high heat – not a “non-stick pan” if you can get by with funny business and nothing will ever stick…when you get over some high heat, toxic fumes and teflon breakdown contaminate your food and your kitchen. Watching the heat is important – too low and you will not get good browning and it will take too long, too high and you’ll scorch the mushrooms and the other ingredients.

The Oil – (this is the lubrication and character of you and your business – sincerity, honesty, patience, trust and respect)

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and about a teaspoon of salted butter and swirl them across the bottom of the pan. Do not fool around with fake lubricants…use real butter. Combining the olive oil and butter keeps the butter from browning too fast.

The Technique – (this is your implementation)

Add one group of the mushroom slices – they will be shrinking, but put them in so they aren’t touching each other. This will allow enough heat to collect in each slice to caramelize the natural sugars, seal in some of the moisture and creates a much richer appearance and flavor.

If you rush this step…all the mushrooms going in the pan at once – they don’t brown, they shrink more and they turn a gray color instead of a lovely brown.

Turn the mushrooms one by one with a pair of tongues – you are going for a rich, golden brown and reduction in size of about half…don’t cook them into oblivion! (as you are implementing ideas, you should be measuring, have a clear idea of what “brown” looks like and don’t overwork them)

Remove the first batch, add more oil and butter and repeat until all the mushrooms are browned.

The Accent Ingredients - (these are people on your team and tools that assist you in implementing new ideas)

Garlic - (the bold, strong, assertive input that will keep things exciting and powerful)

Put all the mushrooms back in the pan and add about a tablespoon of minced or crushed fresh garlic. Don’t let this scorch…heat it until there is just a hint of brown on the garlic and them mushrooms are all hot again.

Thyme - (this is not a direct metaphor for time…to me it represents elegance – subtle and expert implementation of ideas)

Fresh is best, but dried is fine too – about a tablespoon of fresh thyme – just the leaves, or a teaspoon of dried.

A terrific book I just listened to on the subject of Elegance is In Pursuit of Elegance by Matthew E May.

Wine - (this would be “not taking yourself or ideas” too seriously)

This will be gauged by how many mushrooms – I’d say just a good splash, maybe half a cup at most of decent red wine or white – whatever is at hand. Pursuing excellence is important, but if you can’t laugh and you don’t enjoy what you are doing… LIGHTEN UP!

Salt & Pepper - (looking for contrast and balance)

Salt and Pepper are always added “to taste” in a recipe like this and add depth of flavor and a little kick.

A Grand Finish?

You could hit this with a dibby dab of more butter, but once the wine reduces – this is done! Sooo yummy and worth the extra time and effort.

These mushrooms are a great side dish, steak or burger topper, omelette filling and whatever is left of this batch will be going into some amazing beef stew (that’s where we’ll talk about products, service and team)

Do I recommend The League of Extraordinary Minds? Yes. Sign Up for This Free Series Click Here

You can sign up for free with this link…but keep in mind when you get their material or any big batch of information that you need to take the time to process and implement things:

In sequence

In peace and paced

With a team who can help you choose what 20% will create the biggest impact

With Elegance, Humor and REAL BUTTER!!

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Tags: #LOEM, elegance, Executing New Strategies, Jay Abraham, Julia Child, League of Extraordinary Minds, Overload, Overwhelm, Project Management, Rich Schefren, Sauteed mushrooms, Tony Robbins